Originally Posted by
machinima
Heres the story:
I got my laptop at Christmas and it came with Windows Vista Home Premium. I've had to reinstall it three times now due to random junk happening to it (me running over it with the bulldozer Ubuntu lol)
Anyway, I have my laptop with Premium on it and want Ultimate. So without thinking, I went to the store and got the Ultimate Install DVD.
Then I thought, wait a minute. What if it won't let me upgrade from premium to ultimate?
Well that's my question.
Can I or can I not upgrade Microsoft Windows Home Premium to Microsoft Windows Ultimate with the Microsoft Windows Ultimate Install DVD? (A lot of Microsoft Windows there lol!)
THANKS IN ADVANCE!
I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER IF YOU ANSWER IT RIGHT!
It depends on which DVD you purchased. There are upgrade DVD's, Full Version DVD's and OEM DVD's.
You can only upgrade to the same x86 or x64 type of OS if you have the upgrade DVD and a NEW License Key. All DVD's have all versions on them. The License Key dictates which version you can install. There is the option to install without entering your key, but if you bought an Ultimate Key, you can only activate the Ultimate version and so forth, they are not interchangeable. Also an x86 will not upgrade to x64 and vice versa.
If you bought an OEM (usually the least expensive) or Full version DVD, you must do a clean install, these DVD's will not allow an upgrade to be performed.
If you need to do a clean install, make sure you get all the files needed from your manufacturer's website before you upgrade as you will be forced to format the hard drive and start new. You'll be in a hard place if the network interface device on your laptop needs special drivers not included on the VISTA DVD as you wont be able to connect to the internet to get any drivers you may be missing.
Also, you will lose your "Restore" Partition if there is one. Laptops these days don't come with install disks anymore, they come with restore partitions for reinstall purposes . You are generally forced to make your own, and they will only install the original version of VISTA that the laptop came with. The individual drivers may not be accessible on your home made recovery.
Jim
Linear Mode
